Sidmouth to Dorset coastal wildbelt invertebrates

The Sidmouth to Dorset coastal wildbelt is a unique mosaic of dynamic habitats.

These habitats support a wealth of wildlife including rare and threatened insects.

They are the only known UK location for the Spanish snout cranefly.

Landscape view of white cliffs to the right of the frame, sea to the top left, branscombe beach to the top right and sky in between. At the bottom of the frame is the foreground of the photo why is green, dry coastal scrub and trees.

Beer to Branscombe cliffs, Annie Houston

A striking brown and white patterned adult moth rests on a pale stone. The moth is fairly large with a rectangular outline that ends with a small head at the top of the photo and two round wing ends at the bottom. The moths base colour is a dark brown with mirrored mottled white and black patterns on each wing. There are two long, thin antennae at either side of the head.

White spot, Barry Henwood

Atop a background of pale round pebbles, a small cricket is resting. It has a solid, dark grey-black, ridged abdomen, a coppery brown head and bosy, and pale brown-beige legs. There are two long, thin antennae protruding from the top of the head, facing in front of the cricket, and three dark, pointed tails protruding from the rear of the cricket.

Scaly Cricket, Adrian Colston

1. About

The unstable cliffs between Sidmouth and the Dorset border are one of the most remarkable areas for invertebrates in the UK, as well as in Devon. They support many threatened species including groups such as flies, moths and beetles that are often overlooked. There are several reasons why this area is an invertebrate hotspot: 

Unstable cliffs: The cliffs are some of the most active in Europe and are continuously being reshaped by erosion, slumping and crumbling. The resulting unstable slopes and cliffs are known as undercliffs. Constant bare ground is crucial for species like furrow bees, which burrow and nest in it. Other species depend on the vegetation that quickly colonizes these newly exposed areas. 

Seepages: Many species (especially rare flies) rely on the wet areas that run along the cliffs, including calcareous springs, seepages, streams and patches of fen. These features often appear on unstable slopes. Frequent landslips prevent the habitats being lost to scrub growth and create new ones.

Geology and soils: This stretch of coast has a unique geology with a mosaic of chalk, limestone and mudstone cliffs.

Diverse habitats: The physical features of this stretch of coast form a dynamic mosaic of habitats. These include scrub and flower-rich grasslands (on the cliff tops and slumped cliffs), wetlands, bare cliffs and shingle beaches divided by wooded stream valleys (coombes). This mosaic of habitats supports a remarkable diversity of rare invertebrates in a relatively small area.

The undercliffs are designated as SSSI and are within the Sidmouth to West Bay SAC. Part of this area is designated as the Axmouth to Lyme Regis National Nature Reserve (see the LNRS Viewer). They also lie in the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

This group brings together xx Focus Species that need broadly similar habitat but often very different microhabitats. Many of the species in this group are not listed on the SSSI citation. They may also rely on habitats which lie outside the SSSI.

Other Devon Species of Conservation Concern found along this stretch of coast include the rufous grasshopper and Nottingham catchfly plant, both chalk grassland species.

2. What we need to do and where

Focus species

Morris’s wainscott and other east coast moths and butterflies

This stretch of coast supports an important group of rare moths and butterflies. The locations mentioned below refer to Britain only. Devon Species of Conservation Concern include: Q: is this list too much for the webpage and do we just list them and link to the Devon Species of Conservation Concern spreadsheet which can have this information?

  • White pea moth (Grapholita gemiferana) and Everlasting-pea blister moth (Leucoptera lathyrifoliella) – both species are very rare and only found along this stretch of coast and a few other locations including the Isle of Wight. Caterpillars of both species feed on the narrow-everlasting pea.
  • Golden edged dot (Stigmella auromarginella). Only found along the coasts of Dorset and east Devon. Caterpillars feed on the leaves of bramble.
  • Dingy white plume (Merrifieldia baliodactylus). Caterpillars feed on wild marjoram in spring, biting through the stem and causing the upper leaves to wilt.
  • Colt’s-foot miner (Scrobipalpula tussilaginis).  Also found on the Dorset coast and one site in Hampshire. Caterpillars feed on the leaves of colt’s-foot. The holes are conspicuous so easily recorded.
  • Goat moth (Cossus cossus). Caterpillars feed on grey willow and ash by burrowing into trunks and feeding on wood. This stretch of coast is probably a refuge to where this previously more widespread species has retreated.   
  • Mere wainscott (Photedes fluxa) feeds on wood small-reed and is now mainly found along this stretch of coast and near Croyde in north Devon.
  • Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages). Caterpilars feed on common bird’s foot trefoil.       
  • Small blue (Cupido minimus). Caterpillars feed on kidney vetch.                    
  • Adonis blue (Polyommatus bellargus). Caterpillars feed on horseshoe vetch.        

Four species in this group are listed as Devon Special Species in their own right:

Morris’s wainscot (moth)

Photedes morrisii

In the UK, Morris’s wainscot is only found on this stretch of coast, between Axmouth and Eype in Dorset. It lives at the base of slipping cliffs, where the caterpillar’s foodplant tall fescue grows. Larvae are found in the stems of smaller, weak plants which are stressed by growing on the slipping cliff.   

White spot (moth)

Hadena albimacula

White spot caterpillars feed on the seeds of Nottingham catchfly, which is also a Focus Species. They initially live in the seed capsule, then hide under the base of the plant by day and feed on the seeds at night.  

The moths fly in May and June. White spots are found on vegetated shingle and chalk or limestone cliffs from Branscombe to Kent where Nottingham catchfly grows. In Devon, they’re found between Branscombe and Seaton. 

Devonshire wainscott (moth)

Leucania putrescens

The Devonshire wainscott is only found on the coasts of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, South Wales and Pembrokeshire. They’re rare in Devon but can be seen along both the north and south coasts.  

Adults fly from mid-July to early September. Eggs are laid on various grasses which caterpillars feed on through the winter.  

Wood white (butterfly)

Leptidea sinapis

The wood white butterfly is one of the UK’s lightest and smallest butterfly species. It has a unique, almost ghostly appearance due to its pale, white wings.  

It lives in habitats with tall grassland or light shrub (which provide shade and shelter) and with vetches (the caterpillar foodplant), including bitter vetch, tufted vetch, birds-foot trefoil and greater birds-foot trefoil.   

It breeds twice a year with adults flying in May or June and August. In Devon, the remaining populations are found on this stretch of coast (due to the scrubby grasslands), Meeth quarry in north Devon and Cookworthy Forest.     

Spanish snout cranefly and other undercliff flies

The wet areas within the Undercliffs (the calcareous springs, seepages, runnels, streams and patches of fen) are exceptionally important for flies and support many threatened, rare and scarce species. This group of flies can’t be found anywhere else in Devon. The critical wet features often occur on dynamic unstable slopes where the growth of trees is checked by frequent landslips. These flies rely on features which remain wet throughout the year and feed in flower-rich coastal grassland and scrub. They are very vulnerable to changes in water quality, hydrology, stability and scrub invasion, and at risk from climate change. 

There are five species in this group which are listed as Devon Species of Conservation Concern including:

  • The six-spotted lamb (Idiocera sexguttata) a UK Priority Species
  • Platycephala umbracula, a grass fly associated with reedbeds
  • Herina oscillans, a picture-winged fly
  • Chyliza extenuata which has larvae which form galls in the stems of broomrapes.

The Spanish snout cranefly is listed as a Devon Special Species in its own right.

Spanish snout cranefly

Helius hispanicus

The Spanish snout cranefly is largely a southern-European species. In Britain is is only known from two or three tiny spring fed streams running down the soft coastal cliffs at Haven Cliff just east of Axmouth harbour.

These seepages are not currently under any obvious threat other than potentially from willow encroachment. However, they are very vulnerable to damage from activities such as as cliff stabilization, recreational provision, water abstraction, drainage or pollution.

For more details see the links in Find out more to the LNRS profile for Spanish snout and the Undercliffs fly group.

Crumbling cliff bees

A group of four very rare bees can be found on this stretch of coast. All are furrow or mining bees which nest in bare areas on the cliffs and feed in flower-rich coastal grasslands.

Broad-faced furrow bee

Lasioglossum laticeps


In the UK, the broad-faced furrow bee is only found on this stretch of coast in Devon and west Dorset, making Devon a vital stronghold. The bees nest in cracks that form when wet south-facing clay cliffs dry out in the summer. They’re a eusocial species, which means they nest in groups and divide up responsibilities, entrusting others to look after their young. The bees feed on a range of flowers in coastal grasslands near to their nesting sites. 

Buff-banded mining bee

Andrena (Cnemidandrena) simillima

In the UK this species is known from this stretch of coast and the Kent coast. The buff-banded mining bee excavates single burrows in sheltered, fairly loose bare soil, but burrows can be found in quite high numbers. Knapweed is thought to be its critical food plant, but it also feeds on bramble, common fleabane, hemp agrimony, thistle species and wild marjoram. 

Spined blood bee

Sphecodes spinulosus

The last known Devon record for the spined blood bee was in Branscombe in 1978. However, it may still be present along this stretch of coast so more survey is needed.

It forages on a range species such as buttercups, spurge, hogweed and wild carrot. It’s known as a blood bee due to its black and red colouring and because it lays its eggs in the nest of the orange-footed furrow bee (Halictus rubicundus), relying on this bee to rear its young. The orange-footed furrow bee has some recent records in Devon, including this stretch of coast, and is a Devon Species of Conservation Concern. 

Cliff furrow bee

Although it hasn’t been recorded since 1995, it’s hard to identify and may still exist along this stretch of coast.

The bee nests in burrows they excavate in clay exposed by landslips at the base of cliffs. Common birds-foot-trefoil (common in grasslands along this stretch of coast) is their most important forage plant.

Cliff tiger beetle (Cicindela germanica) (c) Andrew Whitehouse

Cliff tiger beetle

Cylindera germanica

In the UK, the cliff tiger beetle is only found on this stretch of coast (Branscombe to Lyme Regis), the Jursssic coast in Dorset and the Isle of Wight. As with many of the species in this assemblage, they are thermophilic (warmth-loving), so are only found on south-facing cliffs with plenty of bare ground.   

Known as the cheetah of the insect world, this long-legged beetle uses its incredible speed to catch its prey. Even as larvae these beetles are fearsome insect predators. The larvae ambush their prey and pull them into their damp sand burrows.  

Atop a background of pale round pebbles, a small cricket is resting. It has a solid, dark grey-black, ridged abdomen, a coppery brown head and bosy, and pale brown-beige legs. There are two long, thin antennae protruding from the top of the head, facing in front of the cricket, and three dark, pointed tails protruding from the rear of the cricket.

Scaly cricket

Pseudomogoplistes vicentae

The scaly cricket lives on shingle beaches where it forages for food at night. It lays eggs in driftwood which hatch after around a year, generally in June.

It is classed as vulnerable to extinction and is only known from three sites in England and Wales: Chesil Fleet lagoon in Dorset, Branscombe beach in Devon and Marloes Sands in Pembrokeshire. The main issues for the scaly cricket are loss of habitat through winter storms, pollution and sea level rise. However the Branscombe population is monitored by the County Recorder and other volunteer experts every five years and a 2019 survey showed that the population is healthy. As the population is isolated potential genetic inbreeding is also thought to be an issue. Buglife therefore carried out an enhancement introduction programme in the mid 2010s.

No specific actions are currently needed for the scaly cricket other than to continue monitoring to ensure that there are no other issues such as habitat disturbance or removal of driftwood.

Actions

Manage and restore (through light grazing and scrub control) a mosaic of connected habitats with flower-rich grasslands, bare ground, scattered scrub and trees, wet seepages, eroding cliffs, shingle and critical foodplants.

  • Control invasive species such as pampas grass, gunnera, holm oak, rhododendron, laurel and buddleia, particularly where they interfere with natural processes and shade out wet features such as seepages.
  • Ensure that natural slippage and hydrological regimes continue unchecked to ensure that there are always wet features which remain wet throughout the year and free from dense shading by woody growth.
  • Ensure high water quality.
  • Leave driftwood on the shingle for the scaly cricket.
  • Map the springs, seepages, streams, runnels and patches of fen and improve understanding of the hydrology of the seepages and how to maintain them.

Monitoring and awareness

  • Monitor the rare invertebrates and share records with the county species recorders and Devon Biodiversity Records Centre.
  • Ensure that landowners and managers are aware of the importance of microhabitats for rare invertebrates and their high vulnerability to changes in water quality, hydrology, stabilisation and scrub encroachment.

Other relevant actions

Other Focus Species (with a wider distribution) which can also be found along this stretch of coast are: 

Mammals: water vole

Bats: Greater horseshoe, grey long-eared, Bechstein’s, lesser horseshoe, barbastelle, serotine

Moths and butterflies:

Bugs and beetles: xx

Bees, ants and wasps: xx

Follow the links below to the relevant Focus Species pages as well as to relevant habitat and wider theme pages:

Where to focus action

  • High Opportunity Area: Sidmouth to Dorset Coastal Wildbelt. See Mapping.
  • A Species Opportunity Area has also been mapped for the wood white butterfly to help guide where to focus action – this overlaps with this Coastal Wildbelt.

3. Inspiration

Case studies and Where to visit will be agreed following discussion through public consultation period and then finalised.

There’s lots of great work going on in Devon for coastal wildbelt invertebrates. For example:

Where to visit

Always follow the Countryside Code and keep to footpaths and sites that are managed for public access. 

Good places to see coastal wildbelt invertebrates are:

Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliff National Nature Reserve 

A striking brown and white patterned adult moth rests on a pale stone. The moth is fairly large with a rectangular outline that ends with a small head at the top of the photo and two round wing ends at the bottom. The moths base colour is a dark brown with mirrored mottled white and black patterns on each wing. There are two long, thin antennae at either side of the head.

Beer to Branscombe South West Coast Path

Landscape view of white cliffs to the right of the frame, sea to the top left, branscombe beach to the top right and sky in between. At the bottom of the frame is the foreground of the photo why is green, dry coastal scrub and trees.

For information on visiting these and other sites that are open to the public please see the Explore Devon website.

4. Find out more

See useful links on the main species pages: True flies, Moths and butterflies, Bugs, beetles and crickets. 

LNRS species profiles:

East Devon undercliff flies group
Spanish snout cranefly

Buglife has published a fact file on the Cliff Tiger Beetle

The habitat these invertebrates depend on is part of the East Devon National Landscape (previously known as AONBs). Their website has information on local projects and to help you explore the area. 

See Sidmouth nature for more on the species and habitats local to this area.

Key delivery partners include: National Trust, Natural England, East Devon Protected Landscape, Devon Fly Group, Devon Moth Group, Butterfly Conservation.

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